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Author Topic: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum  (Read 6672 times)

plt102

  • Joined Jan 2011
Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« on: May 29, 2014, 07:39:02 pm »
Hi there,

I have two lambs, shetlands, about 4 weeks old. They were looking fine a couple of days ago but today they are both very lack lustre, with bloated bellies and they are hunched up and their back bones seem to be protruding. I noticed that they were staying away from mum quite a lot and munching on grass but so were our other lambs so I assumed all was well.
Now I think maybe mums milk might have dried up or she has abandoned them as they didn't run to her when I went up there just now.
They are still walking about and not looking terribly poorly, just not doing well.
Can anyone help me to diagnose the symptoms? Could it be lack of proper nutrition, in which case should I try to get them onto some formula milk from a bottle, or could it be something more sinister which has caused mum to abandon them?

Any advice very welcome
Thanks as always
Pip

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2014, 07:59:29 pm »
Doesn't sound good.

I'd get them, and mum, into a pen and investigate further.

If they're bloated, and therefore uncomfortable, they maybe don't want to feed? But it's usual for lambs to run to their mother for comfort anyway. If she's knocking them away, it's possible she has mastitis, which you'll need to deal with too.

plt102

  • Joined Jan 2011
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2014, 08:04:19 pm »
Ah mastitis! I didn't think of that! I will check. Unfortunately they are a long way away so I can only go first thing in the morning now (hope they make it overnight), then I will definitely pen them up (mmm long stretches of chasing endlessly round the field after the ewe I think as she is a bit feisty...)
If they have bloat from substituting milk with grass, should I try the vegetable oil/ginger trick or maybe some probiotic yoghurt?

shep53

  • Joined Jan 2011
  • Dumfries & Galloway
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2014, 08:24:08 pm »
 Normaly  a ewe will stop feeding its lambs because of    mastitis / sore teats ( orf or lambs biting )   or very lean and no reserves to produce milk   (  worms, fluke or illness )   so check the ewe .    The lambs are pot bellied from  poor nutrition  and trying to become a ruminant at to early an age , at only 4 wks old  they would benefit from  milk they can be easy or bloody hard to persuade to take a bottle just takes time , and get them started on nuts/pellets of some kind

georgielmgm

  • Joined May 2014
  • 17, starting small with my 8 ewes
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2014, 08:28:14 pm »
Hi,
Sorry to hear about your lambs, just a tip to prevent yourself running circles round the field after her, you might already know, I'd try using a crook (or long, sturdy stick if you're without one) to catch the lambs and possibly try showing them to her and making lamb bleating noises (you might feel a bit weird at first!) to get her to follow you, but if she isn't showing much interest then that might not work, just something I use when bringing new born lambs and ewe into the bonding pens.
Failing that, if you have a few spare fence panels tie two or three together and tie them to a corner post of the field fence, make a sort of funnel and try and gently push her into it then pull the end of the extra fence panel closed to form a mini pen? If that makes sense  :-\
Other than that, sidle up to her without looking then turn and grab her when she least expects!  ;)
Good luck with it!

Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2014, 08:58:45 pm »
Me in the middle of the flock shaking bucket a nuts and then baz will spot the wanted ewe and with all the food ructions going on i sidle up to the wanted one, be it walking backwards, whatever it takes, then catch the ewe unawares.  I catch by a hindleg and bring her down immediately.   Not very gracious or the nicest of ways to catch, but in a must get situation it works well.   I do say sorry  :bouquet:

plt102

  • Joined Jan 2011
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2014, 11:31:24 am »
Hi there,
So went to check on the lambs this morning - still alive thank goodness. Could not catch the ewe - she was always a naughty one, but it looks like she has no bags so maybe milk has dried up. Will try again later but she is showing no interest in them at all so not sure if we will be able to get them back together. She also looks like her bags have gone. There didn't seem to be any redness or swelling when we got close to her but couldn't catch her to see if she still had milk.

So we caught the lambs and gave them a Yakult yoghurt each, and some oil and a little formula milk by syringe to perk them up and then will try to start them on a bottle tonight. There was quite a lot of burping and rumbly bellies and we massaged their tummies to help the wind along. We let them back out with the rest of the flock as they were relatively easy to catch (bad sign I know). Apart from their swollen bellies and looking a little thin, they do seem ok in themselves, just a little quiet compared with the other lambs so I hope we can pull them through.

Fingers crossed we can check the ewe properly later on - its a pain having to go to work!
\Thanks for your advice. Will keep you posted.
xxxx

shep53

  • Joined Jan 2011
  • Dumfries & Galloway
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2014, 12:56:15 pm »
 Sounds like you should ignore the ewe as she is fit not ill and udder has all dried up, hope your going to cull her.   Every time you let the lambs out their just going to fill up on grass and water and not be hungry for milk , they might or not survive like that .     Today iv'e just brought in a gimmers twin about 5wks old surviving just on grass ill keep it in to allow it to get rid of its stomach contents and try to get it on a bottle and pellets ( dosed it for worms )

Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #8 on: June 26, 2014, 10:54:14 am »
How are the bubs doing now ? X

plt102

  • Joined Jan 2011
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum - update
« Reply #9 on: July 29, 2014, 01:47:54 pm »
Hi there,

So one of these lambs is now weaned off and eating grass and a little hard feed with the rest of the flock. A little weight going on and so I think she will b oK.

Now I have the little ram lamb and another ewe lamb from another ewe. They both had bloated and are on one bottle of top up milk a day at the moment to supplement their diet. They are hungry for milk and quite perky, however they are both still a little bloated (not at all as bad as before so I think it is just about under control) and quite skinny. I don't want to over feed them on milk (currently 250 ml a day) as I do want them to take grass and a little hard feed to start weaning off like their sister did. They have had their Heptovac and both been wormed but now I am running a little out of ideas.

Should I just carry on as I am and hope their rumens start to work properly and they finally start putting on weight or is it time to consult the vet? Is there any way I can put some more calories into them without overdoing the milk? Or should I up their milk rations and put off weaning for a bit longer?

Hopefully it is just wait and see and they will catch up soon enough.

Foobar

  • Joined Mar 2012
  • South Wales
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #10 on: July 29, 2014, 03:20:50 pm »

So they are about 12 weeks old?
Are they eating creep feed, and if so, how much each day?
You say they are skinny, how much milk did you have them on per day?


If they are that old you should stop the milk and maybe pump them with more creep feed.  They will eat more grass too when they know they won't be getting any more milk.


Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2014, 10:45:34 am »
How many milk feeds do they have.     Are they drinking plenty of water, watch they're intake for the next few days, they should be drinking water well by now.  Change it often.  Take them out one morning BEFORE that bottle and take them for a graze.   Drop that bottle.  Every  so many days, increase the grazing and down the bottles.  Our stopped bottles at this age. Remember that they're rumen starts working at about a month too.


The key is rationing IMHO, giving grass/milk/creep the space and time to digest with out one over doing the other.    The hay which is a constant still is the buffer, not enough fibre, scours we find.  .   Don't put lots of creep down, let them have they're quota and put they're hay down.    Ours were kept housed but free to roam yard at night, and out in day so I had a tight rein/eye on they're intake. They're now normal sheep, still daft as brushes.  We have added some non thriving flock lambs to they're little crew and they do look potty, but are bright, eating well and wormed etc, it can take time for them to look more pleasing to the eye.


If you gonna keep a feed I'd keep the night one, just before bedtime. Good luck x









plt102

  • Joined Jan 2011
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #12 on: August 04, 2014, 09:47:40 am »
Thanks for the advice. So I've stopped their bottles and started penning them in to eat their creep so they don't get pushed off by the other lambs. They were not happy at first but now seem to eat happily for 15 mins or so then I let them out with the rest. They only get a feed once a day at the moment, sometimes two if I have time. I cant wait to get my new field which is closer to home.
The bloatiness seems to be going so I hope they are now on the mend.
Will keep you posted


Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #13 on: August 05, 2014, 10:19:34 pm »
Good news  :excited:

Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Help - poorly twin lambs - maybe abandoned by mum
« Reply #14 on: August 05, 2014, 10:22:46 pm »
Our mollies are coming in for a tidy up tomorrow, n a fit drench, they're having a little feed of nuts in the evening, n hay and they ve got a shed that opens onto a six acre field, so they come in and out as they please x

 

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